Pest control is a common concern to farmers worldwide, yet in Zijin county of Heyuan, Guangdong province, tea green leafhopper insects turn out be a favorite.
As one of China's top 100 counties for tea production, Zijin in South China has a history of growing tea that can be traced back nearly 700 years, according to the county's historical records.
The county has risen to fame in recent years for chancha tea, made using leaves bitten by tea green leafhoppers.
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The tiny green-winged insects insert their mosquito-like mouths into the newly sprouted tea buds to suck their sap, affecting tea growth and resulting in a sharp decrease in yields.
However, farmers soon found that the tea made using leafhopper-bitten leaves has a unique flavor and aroma. It has gained in popularity in the market, with 500 grams of chancha tea priced at thousands of yuan.
The leafhoppers' bites can trigger a series of immune responses from within tea trees, which adds a honey aroma to the finished tea, experts explained.
Despite being sought-after in the market, the tea was difficult to produce on a large scale, subject to the biological habits of the tea green leafhopper.
The colleges of plant protection and horticulture at South China Agricultural University worked together to address the technical difficulties in artificial breeding of the tea green leafhopper, helping local farmers increase the yield of chancha tea.
To this end, the university has founded an expert panel covering the entire industry chain of tea tree breeding, cultivation, processing and plant protection. It conducts research on new technologies and focuses on building a comprehensive industry chain support model.
"Thanks to the strong support from the government and the technical assistance from South China Agricultural University, the aroma of tea from Zijin county is spreading further and the local tea farmers are living a sweeter life," said Zhong Tiege, an executive of Qinglinfeng Tea. The company evolved from a farmers' cooperative and is now an enterprise integrating tea planting, processing and sales.
Chancha tea has become a pillar industry in Zijin, with its tea plantations expanding from 1,200 hectares in 2015 to 5,333 hectares in 2023.
County economy
Counties across Guangdong account for approximately 71.7 percent of the province's entire area. In contrast, their combined GDP contributed 12.5 percent of the province's total.
As county economy lagged behind in the province's high-quality development, the Guangdong Committee of the Communist Party of China launched a project in December 2022 to promote rural vitalization and modernization and achieve coordinated rural-urban growth.
The high-quality development project for Guangdong counties, towns and villages involves 122 counties, 1,609 towns and 26,500 villages across the province.
With an outreach of their staff, technology and service, higher-education institutions in Guangdong have engaged in the project, injecting new momentum into driving the high-quality development at county level.
Zhu Kongjun, head of the Guangdong Department of Education, said the province has so far arranged 82 colleges to pair with 57 county economies for cooperation across a variety of sectors. These include public services, technological support for industrial development, grassroots-level training and urban planning and development.
In the matchmaking activity, the capacities and needs of both sides were taken into account, including such factors as educational characteristics and resources of the colleges, as well as the counties' geographical locations, industrial foundation and development, Zhu said.
School alliances
Three college alliances for rural development have been established in Guangdong, focusing on industrial growth, public services, and village planning and construction, respectively.
They provide platforms for colleges to share resources, collaborate on innovation and complement each other's strengths, according to the provincial Department of Education.
The alliances use advantageous industrial projects as the link, following the development concepts of "each village with one signature product" and "each town with one iconic industry". This has created a group of college-led rural-industrial development demonstration models, which strive to enhance development in counties.
"We'll turn the vast expanse of the countryside that the project targets into a grand stage for the application of education and research achievements by colleges, and into a large classroom for student growth," Zhu said.
Many higher-education institutions in Guangdong have sent teams of teachers and students to identify the characteristics of different counties in coastal areas, mountainous regions and farms, he said.
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They have enhanced efforts in technological introduction, transformation and training in paired counties, helping to stimulate local development and cultivate advantageous industries, he noted.
In addition, Guangdong plans to dispatch at least 2,225 agricultural technicians to villages and townships that feature grain production or characteristic industries, and are included in the second batch of county economies listed in the project.
More support
To create a growing pool of qualified people to assist rural vitalization, Guangdong has launched a systematic training and startup incubation program designed for young people in rural areas, through a cooperation model combining government, business and college.
Starting from December 2022, the youth training program has benefited more than 47,400 participants online, as well as more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, village officials, rural volunteers and college graduates who want to work in villages.
The Guangdong Youth Development Foundation set up a fund on Sept 12. Dedicated to supporting young people in rural vitalization, its initial fund amounts to 10 million yuan ($1.42 million).
